The Most Secret Memory of Men is a book you might be tempted to read and reread dozens of times, parsing each line for multiple meanings and scanning it like a poem, trying to understand the choices Mohamed Mbougar Sarr makes.
By Frank Njugi
In the late 1960s, the Francophone literary milieu was roiled by a momentous scandal involving Malian writer Yambo Ouologuem. After publishing his debut book, Le devoir de violence, in 1968, It was met with wide critical acclaim, winning the Prix Renaudot, that very year, making him the first-ever African author to do so.
However, soon after, Ouologuem was engraved in controversy and a continuous academic debate over charges of plagiarism in the book. This controversy led him to leave France, and he subsequently disappeared from public life.
The first book by a Sub-Saharan African writer to win the Prix Goncourt tells a story inspired by the life of Yambo Ouologuem. The Most Secret Memory of Men, by Senegalese writer, Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, won this prestigious prize awarded by the Société littéraire des Goncourt (Goncourt Literary Society) in 2021 and was recently translated into English by Lara Vergnaud.
The Most Secret Memory of Men employs satire, magical realism, and Senegalese mysticism—spiritual or transcendent experiences rooted in Senegalese traditions—to tell a story that mirrors that of Yambo Ouologuem.
In the novel, Mohamed Mbougar Sarr tells the story of a writer named T.C. Elimane, author of The Labyrinth of Inhumanity, a book said to have transformed perspectives on literature and sparked the kind of literary quarrel for which Senegal alone seems to have both the aptitude and appetite.
The novel’s narrator, Diégane Latyr Faye, is introduced as a young poet, scribbling lines that dance between dreams and reality, striving to turn fleeting thoughts into lasting art.
He is studying at a military boarding school in northern Senegal when he discovers and becomes intrigued by T.C. Elimane, whose work has been erased from literary memory. The Labyrinth of Inhumanity is a book with a lost legacy, as no known copies are believed to exist.
Mohamed Mbougar Sarr describes the book as, “Not cursed even, simply forgotten, and whose corpses, bones, and solitudes blanket the floors of prisons without jailers, and line infinite and silent frozen paths”.
Soon after this discovery, Diégane moves to Paris for further studies. By coincidence he meets Marème Siga D., a writer described as the ‘Black Angel’ of Senegalese literature. Siga D. happens to have a copy of The Labyrinth of Inhumanity.
Mohamed Mbougar Sarr uses the meeting between Diégane and Siga D. as the harbinger for the former igniting further his interest in T.C Elimane and through excavations between Senegal, Paris, and Amsterdam where Siga D. stays, Diégane comes to learn of the family connection that exists between T.C Elimane and Siga D.
As the novel progresses, Diégane becomes utterly consumed by The Labyrinth of Inhumanity, to the point where T.C. Elimane’s life becomes as vivid and essential to him as his own. Through Diégane’s interactions with those around him regarding this newfound obsession, Sarr seizes the opportunity to critique the Francophone literary world.
In The Most Secret Memory of Men, the author explores how, at times, literary criticism in this industry prioritises an author’s identity over their stylistic contributions, which end up in several key dimensions of their work being at risk being overlooked.
There is a reduction of a writer’s identity to ethnicity or nationality which flattens the complexity of their expression, potentially relegating them to a ‘representative’ role that oversimplifies their artistic capabilities. Sarr criticises how the literary field misses out on a nuanced appreciation of the writer’s creative signature, inadvertently promoting stereotypes.
Towards the end of The Most Secret Memory of Men, Diégane finally discovers the whole life story of T.C Elimane, whom critics had initially hailed as the “Negro Rimbaud”, the story behind him writing The Labyrinth of Inhumanity and subsequently being shunned by the literary world after claims of plagiarism sufficed.
However, there is an ultimate realisation that though you may walk a mile in a writer’s shoes, re–live their lives, their true essence and influences may remain veiled, as each word they pen is shaped by unseen depths of experiences, perceptions, and silent battles beyond what even the closest journey alongside them could reveal.
As a whole, the book has a fragmented narrative style. The technique Sarr endeavours using, combining various forms of literary communication, such as diary entries, letters (epistolary), direct dialogue, and testimony (verbatim accounts), alongside secondary sources such as book excerpts to build the story from multiple perspectives and layers.
This approach creates a sense of realism to the book and gives readers insight into the different characters’ thoughts and views without a single, overarching narrator.
The Most Secret Memory of Men is a book you might be tempted to read and reread dozens of times, parsing each line for multiple meanings and scanning it like a poem, trying to understand the choices Mohamed Mbougar Sarr makes. Through this, he upholds the gravitas of storytelling and literature.
Frank Njugi is a Kenyan Writer, Culture journalist and Critic who has written on the East African and African culture scene for platforms such as Debunk Media, Republic Journal, Sinema Focus, Culture Africa, The Elephant, Wakilisha Africa, The Moveee, Africa in Dialogue, Afrocritik and others. He tweets as @franknjugi.